Session 48

Day 270 (1st cycle of winter, 19th day) - countdown day 10

After diving all the loot from Ironforge the Sons spent the day looking up some things, not finding quite as much as they hoped about the Crystal Gong.

Day 271 (1st cycle of winter, 20th day) - countdown day 11

The next morning, the Sons decided to teleport back to Ironforge in order to check out the library. For a second, they had forgotten all about the Djinn in the library. Luckily they spotted him before he spotted them, and to avoid getting someone sent to Hell again, Nevron polymorphed into a mountain dwarf like those who had previously lived in Ironforge and that way got access to the library. For hours he studied the books, while prolonging his polymorph spell. Meanwhile, some wraiths attacked the other Sons. But once protected by the divine magic of Lathander, Arath and Urnyx made short work of the undead.

Day 272 (1st cycle of winter, 21st day) - countdown day 12

The Sons wanted to check out Faytown, but Nevron's teleport deposed them 400 miles to the south instead. They spent the day camping, reading and scribing some scrolls.

At evening, Nevron got a Sending from Elias.

Hi Nevron. Please return to your tower. I have had another vision.

Day 273 (1st cycle of winter, 22nd day) - countdown day 13

The Sons teleported back to Ironville and their tower and talk to Elias. He explained his vision.

I saw the good people of Starkhold going about their business.
Lots were wearing hooded black cloaks and carrying roses.
Then, from the west rose a black column of smoke
I then saw a temple room, a temple to Shar, with a black orb hanging in the air, dark energies pouring into it from 3 portals, 1 emerald green, 1 ebon black and 1 silver.
As the energy from the 3 portals were pouring in, it was pouring more and more energy up into the air.

The canny Sons quickly figured that the hooded black cloaks and roses meant the day of the dead, a holy day to Cyric, which takes place on the 34th day of winter.

Later during the day, Ruby and John-John (the halfling from Starkhold) showed up. The Sons were naturally suspicious of them, especially Ruby, but were (more or less) convinced that they could be allies - for the moment at least. John-John suggested that if the Sons wanted more info about either the orb or the demon portal, they ought to visit Marlin at the Arcane Academy. The Sons agreed and sent John-John back to Starkhold to find the Shar Temple from Elias' vision.

Ruby told them that the army from Faytown had left the town and headed up to the Great Crevasse and now lay in hiding in a nearby gorge.

Day 274 (1st cycle of winter, 23rd day) - countdown day 14

As the Sons teleported to the Arcane Academy, Ruby yelled them to stop, she had forgotten to tell them something. Luckily, that was easily fixable with a Sending. She told them Ter-Zoth already knew that someone had killed the drow priestess and had dispatched assassins to find the culprit and kill them.

Once at the Academy, they met with Marlin, who told them where to find some Storm Giants and that the portals from Elias' vision symbolized Gemnos, the Underworld and the Faerie. He also told them a few things about the Orb of the Void, that it was crafted by Shar herself, using a piece of her own heart. It is a sentient and evil artifact that can be used for many things, including fueling all things necromantic.

Nevron also scribed Legend Lore.

Day 275 (1st cycle of winter, 24th day) - countdown day 15

Legend Lore told them that there was no particular place or time to ring the Gong and that Aurac would arrive within 1 day. 

With that out of the way, the Sons teleported to the Mountains of Hratar and flew up above the clouds, at a height of 30.000 feet. There they found a huge palace of white marble built on 5 connected clouds. 

The Sons met with the Storm giants, gaining some info about the Dark Trio, but not securing their help. The Dark Trio apparently consists of Krakas, a nation-wide famous necromancer, Rau-Drogar, a Dracolich and Aziir, a wizard who had his glory days more than 1800 years ago. Due to Urnyx wearing the belt, he was challenged to single combat, and he lost. 

Day 276 (1st cycle of winter, 25th day) - countdown day 16

After spending a night in the clouds, the Sons teleported to the forest outside of Faytown and then made their way north-east towards the army. As they approached the camp, Nevron made them look like orcs, and they bypassed the patrols easily. Once inside the camp, they found out that they were waiting for the other army to arrive, in 13-14 days time. They also found the command tent, which was pitched inside a cave. Inside were creatures speaking infernal about the portal and the army, at least according to what Urnyx think he heard. The decided to strike the next morning.

Session 47

Day 270 (1st cycle of winter, 11th day)

The Sons planeshifted to Feywild, ending up in a swamp. They quickly made way through the swamp, killing some swamp monsters on the way, before they found the Magic Fair. There they met Gandolfo once again, and he told them where Sorrowsong's Tower could be found. Urnyx bought a magic book supposed to make him more hardy with some of his luck. While he didn't quite understand all the intricacies of the deal, he was definitely a happy half-orc afterwards.

After leaving the Fair for Sorrowsong's Tower, the Sons stumbled over a group of Fey Goblins who were trying to capture a unicorn. The Sons killed the goblins and freed the unicorn, which promptly blessed them.

During the afternoon, they arrived at the tower, which was now a ruin. As they entered it, they were jumped by a hungry troll. Further investigation after killing the troll told them that perhaps they were dealing with a draconic problem. 

They found Sorrowsong's diary in the debris and it told them that, 5 years ago, a green dragon named Vermilox moved into the forest, near the waterfall nearby. It’s mere presence changed the forest in the area Sorrowsong wanted to keep to himself, but he had several clashes with the dragon’s minions, whenever he exited the tower to find components or other things. He finally met Vermilox about 12 years ago. They had several negotiations of sorts and he was struck how protective she was of her three young sons, and how odd it was that they were still around. They were much too old to still live with their mother. Finally it explains that he is pretty sure her lair is behind the waterfall.

At night, while the Sons were resting, two of the dragon's sons arrived. The Sons tried to bargain with them, but it ended with two dead dragons.

Day 270 (1st cycle of winter, 12th day)

The next morning, they headed out to find the dragon lair near the waterfall. As it turns out, the lair was protected by lowhanging fog and a wall of living thorns. The Sons decided to fly over and flew around blind for a while, going by Urnyx' instincts and his hearing. Suddenly they realized they were being hunted by a dragon, and dropped down into a garden with 3 stone giants and some prisoners. The last son, which was on their tail joined the fight and things looked very bleak for a while, but the Sons managed to pull through, free the prisoners and teleport out of the lair. However, not being super familiar with the Faerie, the Sons ended up way down south, near the water, where Belcoast is located on Gemnos.

Day 270 (1st cycle of winter, 13th day)

Once they had rested, the Sons decided that they couldn't leave the prisoners they had free here. They struck a deal with Val'del, an eladrin prince. He would make sure the other got home safe, if the Sons could transport them all to his father's court. 

Once at the elven court, Val'del asked his father to let one of the court mages get the Sons back to Dragon Lake. 

So later that same day, the Sons were once again back in the dragon lair. At first they were attacked by some wyverns, but then they finally arrived at the waterfall, where the dragon mother was hiding out. Her pet Quickling came out, challenging them, keeping them occupied while the mother snuck out, surprising them invisible. The fight was extremely long and hard, and towards the end, no one was sure to make it out alive. But luckily for all, the Sons prevailed over the dragon. 

Day 270 (1st cycle of winter, 14th day)

The Sons spent a day identifying all the magical items they had found in the dragon's lair as well as deciphering the notes about Ironforge, supposedly the secret hiding place of the Crystal Gong.

Day 270 (1st cycle of winter, 16th day)

The next morning, the Sons planeshifted back to Gemnos and landed below the Howling Mountains, near the entrance to Ironforge. They walked the rest of the way and soon found themselves standing before the doors to the dwarven city.

As they touched the doors, two statues of dwarven kings animated and tried to stop them. The golems, who might have been able to keep others out, were destroyed by the Sons. 

Then they entered and started to explore the ancient dwarven city. Moving through the Commons, where the common dwarf lived, they eventually got to the center of the city, the Great Forge. There they managed to turn it on, creating creating some measure of light in the undead-infested city. While many of the undeads were no match for the Sons of the Phoenix, one ghost managed to possess Urnyx and the others had to beat it out of him. 

After hours of walking around, they made for the Military Ward to investigate there. The ward was occupied by some driders who had gotten in via a crack in the walls, which must have been caused by an earthquake. The driders ambushed the Sons, and for a long time, the foul creatures had the upper hand.

They also managed to break into the Iron Bank, which was full of gold, untouched by others who might have visited the deserted city.

Day 270 (1st cycle of winter, 17th day)

The next morning, the Sons continued their quest to find the Gong. In Tinker Town they fought small animated golems before they moved on to the Explorer's Hall and found a magnificint library, easily one of the greatest Nevron had ever heard of. 

There they met the enigmatic custodian of the place. As he wouldn't allow them to touch the books, the Sons moved on for now. They proceeded further into the Halls only to stumble over 4 Mind Flayers conducting sick experiments with captured humanoids.

Once they had dealt with the Mind Flayers, the Sons went through the Forlorn Caverns, the slum of Ironforge. A very narrow and creepy place, but they found nothing of interest. They ended up in the Mystic Ward, where they found a divination room and a conjuring room, connected to a large temple to Erathis. With no info gotten there, nor in the ancient crypts, they opted to return to the library, thinking that the custodian might be bluffing. As it turns out, he wasn't. He turned into a Djinn and fought the Sons. The Sons were too powerful for him though, but during the fight, he managed to send Urnyx to Hell, evening the odds a bit. It was still not enough however, and the Sons killed him. As they didn't know what he was bound to (Contact Other Plane had told Nevron it was "the Red Sultan"), they suspected that he wasn't really dead and would probably reform the very next morning.

Either way, the Sons had a problem. Urnyx was in Hell, hiding from devils and demons and they had no way of getting to him before the next morning. Also, whether they could actually find him was a completely different question. Hell is infinite and they didn't have much to go on. They decided that this was a job for someone more powerful than themselves. Arath broke the rod and Garos arrived in a flash of divine light. He then got Urnyx out of Hell and dumped him unceremoniously on the floor in front of his friends. And then disappeared. 

In the library, they found info about the Gong. It had been placed in an underground vault below the throne room.

Day 270 (1st cycle of winter, 18th day)

The Sons headed to the throne room armed with the 4 keys. After finding the secret entrance by turning the throne, they found themselves in a room with 27 statues of dwarven kings, all with outstretched hands. A sphinx was guarding the place. It calmly told them that they had to place the keys in the right hands.

They failed and the time-controlling sphinx attacked. After a long fight, the Sons were victorious. Sure, the door to proceed further into the complex was open, but there was no gong. Finally they managed to deduce the correct clues and activate the room where the gong had been placed.

Hit by a stroke of intelligence, Urnyx sent in some animals from his magical bag, using the creatures to trigger not one, but two deadly traps. The way cleared, the Sons went into the chamber which held 4 gateways to the 4 different elemental planes. In the middle of the room was the greatest construct ever built, the Statue of Ironforge.

The battle was long and hard, worthy of 100's of songs, and in the end, the statue crumbled while the Sons stood standing, although barely.

Inside the pieces of the statue, they found a portal hole with the gong and a lot of other treasure.

Day 270 (1st cycle of winter, 19th day)

The Sons returned to their tower.

Session 46

Day 270 (1st cycle of winter, 9th day)

After a short rest, the Sons continued towards Ulafarad. They avoided some hook horrors and finally arrived at Ulafarad.

A large city situated in a huge cavern full of glowing mushrooms and large fields of what must be edible mushrooms. High walls protect the town, which is dominated by slender spires of black marble everywhere. 10.000 people of all sorts of races (human, dwarf, drow, duergar, gnome, shadar-kai dominate the population, but orc, goblin, minotaur and hobgoblins are also present in the Underdark trade and mercenary town.

The Sons find themselves an inn, but while Nevron is out looking for a formula for the bluestone Urnyx has given him, Urnyx get them thrown out of the inn and they have to move to the Dimwitted Halfling. Meanwhile Urnyx makes contact with Half-horn, an independent contractor who finds things that are hard to find for other people. A deal is struck and Half-horn promises to return within a week or so.

Later that evening, the Sons scope out of the compound of Illira Vronn. The compound of the drow is encircled by a 20' wall overgrown with living thorns. Inside the walls are some huge barracks, able to house more than 100 guards. The compound itself consists of 3 slender towers, each placed on  stalagmite cut in half, connected by small bridges.

Using Arcane Eye, Nevron scoped out the last tower. Aside from the temple to Lolth, it held only the private chamber of the high priestess. Nevron spied on her for a while, and at a point, she took out a message in abyssal saying: Make sure that at least 30.000 troops from the human towns of Highgarden Rosewall are at Devil's Point on the 4th day of the 1st cycle.

She then proceeded to draw in some arrows on a map, including from Faytown and Ironville, all pointing towards Devils' Point, a well-known place near the Great Chasme. 

The Sons spied some more on Illira, and then decided that no more would happen. They decided that even though that they had enough info to proceed, they wanted to kill the bitch.

Day 270 (1st cycle of winter, 10th day)

After a night of rest, the Sons were ready. They flew up to the top of the cave and then tried to float down to the tower, Unfortunately, they were discovered by the guards on the wall just as Nevron passwalled into the tower. Inside they found the high priestess who promptly summoned a yochlol. 2 guards joined the fray, and things got bloody. After a long and hard fight, which was prolonged when a wizard arrived, the Sons grabbed the chest with the maps and the gold, and once again flew out of the hole in the wall. Unfortunately Nevron was hit by a crossbow bolt and the spell of flight faded, landing the Sons within the compound. Things looked dire, with men on the wall, men above them and more guards surely on the way. Urnyx, more dead than alive, covered Nevron with his shield, while Nevron pulled out the proverbial rabbit, a teleport scroll and teleported them all away. Unfortunately, there was a mishap with the spell, and the Sons got hurt by the mystical energies, so much that Urnyx was barely standing when they arrived in the safehouse of Mask in Starkhold.

Session 45

Day 244 (2nd cycle of autumn, 20th day)
The next morning, when they woke up, Urnyx wasn't feeling well. They spent the day identifying their new magical ring, the potions and dividing loot.

Day 245 (2nd cycle of autumn, 21st day)
Urnyx was still unwell, and the Sons spent the day to find out why that was. As it turns out, he was cursed, but they couldn't find out why. So they decided to head to Alkabar, the gnome town on the edge of the Howling Mountains, to find more info about the Ulafarad.

Day 250 (2nd cycle of autumn, 26th day)
On the way to the gnome town, Urnyx became worse off.

Day 252 (2nd cycle of autumn, 28th day)
The Sons arrived at Alkabar, a noisy town of about 4000 gnomes filled with wondrous mechanical devices. After buying ear-plugs, the Sons settled at the Lost One inn, run by a jovial one-eyed-patched fellow named Duncan. Urnyx, who was exhausted, went to bed. Nevron bought a mekka-globe, a mechanical flying device that could follow him around in the Underdark. Nevron bought directions to Ulfarad and got a gnome priest of Erathis to come check on Urnyx.

The priest quickly determined that Urnyx was cursed and that the curse had a strong touch of the Faerie. The Sons realized that something must have gone wrong with the planting of the acorns.

Further talks made them realize that Urnyx had planted the seeds in the wrong forest.

Day 253 (2nd cycle of autumn, 29th day)
Quickly the Sons left for the east, heading towards Faytown again. Urnyx was getting worse by the day, so they hurried all they could.

Day 261 (2nd cycle of autumn, Day of the Moon)
The Sons arrived and by magic found the acorns.

Day 268 (1st cycle of winter, 7th day)
The Sons arrived near the portal to the Faerie and Urnyx planted the acorns, effectively lifting the curse.

Day 269 (1st cycle of winter, 8th day)
The Sons entered the Underdark, determined to find Ulfarad and kill the dark elf bitch that had been behind the wars that had plagued their nation.

First the Sons ran into a behir, which swallowed Urnyx, before being killed. Then they ran into some Umberhulks which burst through the walls and confused everyone for a while.

Day 270 (1st cycle of winter, 9th day)
After a long rest, the Sons continued to make their way towards Ulfarad, until suddenly they were ambushed by driders. They managed to kill the three monsters, but not hassle.

Session 44

Day 243 (2nd cycle of autumn, 19th day)
After sleeping, Nevron opened the chest and inside they found some gems, a ring and some books. They decided to spend the day reading some of the books, in order to see if there were any pertinent information with regards to their mission.

At some point Nevron went out to buy ink, and found out that an announcement was forthcoming about the nightly attacks.

Sometime after midday, the announcement came. It was indeed vampires and people were advised to stay indoor in their own homes, as vampires could not enter those without permission. The Sons decided to seek out a homeless shelter just before sundown and wait.

They waited about 4 hours before the vampires came. They killed two and took the last one prisoner. Using magic, more magic and bluff they found out where they had been created. 

Heading down into the sewers, they used more magic to locate the one thing they knew Metrova had, an old oak staff with his family crest on. They found the secret entrance and soon found themselves face to face with Metrova. Protected by magic, the Sons soon had him on his heels. Most of the bats he summoned got trapped in a spell of web, and Metrova was dying. Then he turned to mist and disappeared out through a pipe. The Sons quickly followed, using polymorph and dimension door to pass through the wall, only to find more empty sewers. The hunt through the sewers began, a hunt which eventually led them back to the secret hideout, where Metrova had returned, now healed and with another awakened vampire there. 

This time the fight was more even, as the Sons had no magic protection. Metrova caught Nevron in a corner and drained him of blood in few seconds. Things looked bleak but Arath managed to get him back up and slay Metrova with his holy mace.

Before leaving, they cleared the lab of notes and all sorts of different things..

Session 43

Day 242 (2nd cycle of autumn, 18th day)

After some deliberation, the Sons decided to stake out the warehouses owned by the Scarred Souls. They found quite a few thugish-looking men hanging out outside with little traffic through. They kept the lookout through the evening, but even after most other warehouses closed, the thugs remained, the warehouse open. 

The Sons had to find a warehouse nearby to hide inside, so that they didn't attract any unwanted attention. There Urnyx used his powers over animals to get a rat to scout out the warehouse. He found a trapdoor and a tube, which unfortunately (for the rat) led down into a cauldron with food and a very angry cook. 

Day 243 (2nd cycle of autumn, 19th day)

Then, via another rat, the Sons overheard that the thugs had been told to "pack up" soon. They decided that they could wait no longer.

The Sons ambushed the 4 thugs, holding two with magic while the two others were quickly killed. They entered the warehouse, only to almost run into another rogue coming up the trapdoor. He was quickly killed as well. 

The Sons went downstairs, and fell into a trap with a lot of rats. Urnyx, who just barely caught the ledge when the floor disappeared, managed to help Arath up, before he was eaten by hordes of hungry rats. 

They explored more of the guild quarters, before finding an eating hall in which two deadly assassins were hiding. The fight was brutal and so was their poison, but the Sons just made it. They healed up, before they found themselves facing the leader of the guild (?). They had a long talk about being there, killing his people, and him hiding Metrova. They were even allowed to look around. But at some point, when they demanded to question him with magic, the man showed his true colors. He was a psion, and he assaulted their mental faculties again and again. The Sons were on their knees, moments from dying, when Urnyx landed a series of incredible lucky blows and the man died. Alas, there were still many questions unanswered, and no one to answer them.

The Sons found two chests, one which they opened, although the poison did sting quite a bit. They then left through a secret door to the sewers and made their way through them. They ran into two vampires (?), which they killed easily. Once they got on the streets, it was all silent. No guards in sight, although one could hear the occasional fight some ways away. Twice more, they got attacked by the same undead, and while Urnyx did feel somewhat drained, Arath had his mace and dished out plenty of punishment. 

The Sons finally made it to the safehouse, and since no one capable of opening the last chest was awake, they went to bed and slept till noon.

Session 42

Day 214 (1st cycle of autumn, 26th day)

While Arath continued to run with haste, putting more and more space between himself and the orcs, Nevron was using magic to follow him. Urnyx made it to the three line and tried to hide from the flying orc. The orc found Urnyx, and Urnyx managed to grab him to prevent him from flying away. Unfortunately for Urnyx, the flying orc turned out to be a Glabrezu, a demon from Hell, which grabbed him right back with it's giant pincers and proceeded to beat the hell out of him while dropping magical darkness on him. Things looked as if they were going to end there for Urnyx, when suddenly the darkness disappeared and a cyclops tackled the Glabrezu away from Urnyx. Ruby was there as well, and told him to run. Which he did. Meanwhile, Nevron had found Arath and using magic, they arranged to meet up with Urnyx back at the boat.

Deciding there was nothing more to do here, they set sail towards Ironville.

Day 226 (2nd cycle of autumn, 2nd day)

The Sons return to Ironville and immediately go see Sophie Ran. They told her of what had happened with Faytown, but instead of thanking them, she said..

I have just gotten irrefutable proof that you are allied with the demons and have participated in the execution of all good men and women of Faytown. Not only that, but you stalled on killing the hag, so that almost every single child of Ironville has died. Your betrayal is imaginable. Not only have you betrayed your adopted city, you have betrayed your own races. Normally I would give you a trial, but you are simply too dangerous to let live.

And then all the guards started to shoot. The Sons tried the best they could to survive, but they couldn't get out of the room and they couldn't deal with all the bolts raining down on them. While struggling to survive, they found out that Sophie was possessed by Ter-Zoth, but little good did it do them. They still died, remembering what Elias said once, a long time ago...

Four things will define your greatness.
The army in the shadows that wants to rule mankind.
The deadly trio that will cover the world in plague and ruin.
The forgotten one that wants to destroy the world.
And your death at the hands of an ally.

As the Sons died, they passed on through the veil to the Underworld. As they drifted through the misty haze, they suddenly felt a godly presence and saw a giant grey face with white eyes. The face spoke.

Welcome to my domain, Sons of the Phoenix. Under normal circumstances, it would be my pleasure to collect your souls and perhaps even keep them here for eternity. Alas, you are not done quite yet on Gemnos.

You see, my brother Bane is plotting and scheming to throw the world into chaos in order to reap more souls. That would throw off the balance there is between the three of us and while it would bother me a great deal, you mortals would be in much greater trouble. So that plan must not succeed. Since I am bound by divine mandate not to interfere directly, it is up to you and your allies to stop my brother’s plans. Luckily for us all, you are dead now, and I am thus able to circumvent certain rules. I also have an… ally who is very adept at bending that mandate.
Everything happening lately is connected, even though most of the players might not know nor realize it. The wars that have plagued the region over the last months have been meant to destabilize the it, while the Dark Trio and Ter-Zoth each in their own way work on a way to cause a great many deaths. The Dark Trio is working on using an ancient alien artifact called the Orb of Void to create an undead plague of some sort, that they can unleash on the whole nation, perhaps on the whole continent. Since it by all accounts isn’t ready yet, I can not tell you what form it will take, but I gather it will remind in one or more ways of the two plagues you have already encountered. Meanwhile, Ter-Zoth works on opening a portal large enough to let thousands of demons back onto Gemnos, this time to conquer and keep it in their demonic grasp. I do not know either how he will do this, but this sort of endeavor usually requires a lot of deaths during a ritual, both located at a place of demonic power.

So, unless you wish for Gemnos to be covered by demons or undead plagues, I suggest that you get on with your business and do not die again.
If you want to talk to the person who is the mastermind behind all the wars, I recently had a chat with a Prince Erak of the Shadar-Kai. He is the ruler of the city that attacked Ironville. He was reluctant to tell who was behind the attacks, but I reminded him that he lives in my world and even though he belongs to the Raven Bitch, I could still make life and death extremely complicated for him. The wars were masterminded by the drow. Specifically by a high priestess of Lolth named Illira Vronn called the Shadowspider. She resides in the city of Ulafarad in the Underdark.

Day 231 (2nd cycle of autumn, 7th day)
The Sons were raised by Hagron down in the sewers below Ironville. He told them that their death had been foreseen and thus unavoidable, but he had positioned himself near Sophie, so that he could help them. He had copied their weapons and such, so that they still had all their magical items.

He sailed them out of Ironville, to a cabin hidden far in the woods, so that they could rest.

Day 235 (2nd cycle of autumn, 11th day)
After some days of resting and planning, the Sons decided to leave for Starkhold and find Metrova.

Day 239 (2nd cycle of autumn, 15th day)
The Sons arrive in Starkhold, intent to find Metrova. They take up temporary residence in a Mask safehouse, courtesy of Hagron. From there, they find out (talking to the elven advisor of House Ragor called Lelos) that all the Metrovas died 65 years ago, when they tried to coup the Starks but lost. All 17 of the family, including the children, were executed publicly. But no one but the Starks know where they are buried.

Day 241 (2nd cycle of autumn, 17th day)
After contacting the Short Brothers, they find out that the wooden mini from the Death Knight's table does indeed bear resemblance to someone in Starkhold. Someone whom a rival guild, called the Scarred Souls, have protected for a while now. Their guildhouse is near the docks, under three red warehouses.

The Quaran Empire

Yes, the Saldanas founded not one, but two empires... Not bad huh? While the Saldanas of Quaran certain do things differently than those from Ortygal, there is no way to get around the fact that they are family.. What a family!

In 2475, Matthew "Matty" Saldana left Ortygal agaisnt the wishes of his father in search of the unknown. He sailed across the Great Sea and found the isles that would become the Quarran Empire. Both he and his son, Jack Saldana spent their life fighting the pirates, taking one island after the other. And after more than 40 years, the Quaran Empire was a reality.

In order to never have any doubt as to whom gives the orders, the public only ever know of one Saldana at a time. When the current ruler dies, another Saldana is presented to the public and the Congress, the advisory body of the Quaran Empire. In fact, most of the time, the Saldanas spend most of their time far away from the public eye, most communication goes through their chief advisor, a silver dragon. The current silver dragon is called Argos and is the fifth to serve the Saldanas. Ever since Matty Saldana found a silver dragon egg and helped hatch it, has it been this way.  Argos is more than 1600 years old, and many think he will soon retire and pass on the torch to his son or daughter.

Obviously, the Quaran Empire has an immense navy and a merchant fleet to match the Federation, but what is little less known is that their warriors are considered more or less without peers as well. Despite being far away from all enemies, the Quaran Empire keeps are large standing armies and employ the very best generals and mercenaries to drill them constantly. They also frequent rent out their armies to other nations in need.

Federation of the Inner Sea

See Freeport and you can die. It is hard to explain just how impressive the capital of the Federation of the Inner Sea is, but let me try. More than one million people live there, it spans three continents and 47 islands. The inner walls are more than 150 feet tall and 40 feet thick, while the outer walls are a paltry 100 feet tall and 30 feet thick. There is more gold there than in any other nation on Gemnos. Freeport is truly the greatest city of them all.

When would later become the Federation left the Empire of Ortygal in 2999, there was much discussion on how this new nation should be run. No one wanted to have a kingdom or an empire, no one wanted something similar to the Saldanas. But they wanted the best possible person or persons to make the decisions. In the end, they opted to create a council called the Conclave.

The members of the conclave were: A great warrior, an arch-mage, a high-priest, a powerful merchant and the leading noble. To advise them, there is another council, comprised of senior members of every single guild in the Federation. This is how it was, and still is. Whenever a member of the Conclave dies, the other members choose another similar person to fill the vacant seat. A member of the Conclave forfeits all personal assets except for a few items and work for the remainder of his life to improve the Federation.

To some, this might seem like an odd way of running a nation, but it has worked well for the Federation. Ever since it's inception, it has just gotten more and more powerful. It's capital and dwarfs all other cities on Gemnos in size and importance. Freeport is by and large the greatest city in the world. The merchant fleet of the Federation sail to all ports of Gemnos and it's navy is matched by none.

In fact, the Federation has managed to stay out of every single war since it was founded. Sure, there has been a lot of skirmishes, both with Ortygal and the Kingdom of Erathis. The Federation seems more than satisfied with the land it has, only seeking to gain power through wealth and diplomacy.

Timeline of Cursed Lands

Uruak

Hard men and women inhabit Uruak. That much is certain. And they will never admit so, but they live in fear. Long ago, they sold their souls to the wizards and now there is no going back. The Black Robes are the law, yet they exist outside the law. I tell you, those rumors of children with magical aptitude disappearing from their homes are just the tip of the iceberg. 

Gaellar Ytran, moments before he died when four fireballs obliterated the inn he was staying at. 

Located in eastern Anglar, south of the 100 kingdoms, north of Pyrrak and east of the Inner Sea, Uruak is to many a very inhospitable place. Half of the country are plains where the ground is hard and things only grow there with great difficulty. The other half are hills. That is probably why the original inhabitants of Anglar avoided the are for so long.

But around 1100, roaming tribesmen were no longer the only inhabitants of Uruak. Villages began to spring up near the Inner Sea, gradually moving further and further inland.

But it was a hard land, difficult to live there and even more difficult to prosper there. For another millennia, the people of Uruak struggled. Then the people turned to magic to solve their problems. Even the lowliest village soon had a spell-caster or two to help them make things just a bit easier.

As things became better, the inhabitants of Uruak became more and more dependent on magic in order to survive and evolve. Naturally, the spell-casters got more and more influence and soon, most villages were run by those spell-casters, if not in name, then in reality.

For a long time, things stayed pretty much the same in Uruak. No one but those living there were interested in the land, so the other nations let them be.

Then in 4666, the Black Council was formed. The most powerful spell-casters of the land donned black robes and masks and named themselves the Black Robes, and decided they needed to take an active hand in leading, not just the individual city-states, but the nation as a whole. Ever since, the spell-casters have run Uruak.

The Republic

For the people, by the people, of the people.

 Republican motto

For thousands of years, after the fall of the Dragon Empire, the plains of what is now the Republic were populated by flesh-eating barbarians. It was, by and large, regarded by the other nations of Kounark as a waste of time. While there were plenty of natural resources to gain by invading the area, it would simply require way too much time and men to take control off.

Then around 3700 something happened down south. The tribe called the Headhunters began winning many wars, and began assimilating the tribes they had beaten, something which had never happened previously. In less than 20 years, the Headhunters' control of what would become the Republic was absolute.

For some years, the area had no official name. It remained behind the Wall of Gemnos, and there was no trade in nor out. Outsiders were put to the sword as soon as they set foot on the ground.

Then, in 4359, the Republic was founded an everything changed. Towns and cities had been built, and the old tribal flesh-eating ways had disappeared. The Republic was based on an idea that no one was worth more than others, that people should work for the common good. The State owned everything and shared everything with it's inhabitants.

A complicated system of votes had also been created, so that every two years, 13 people (one from each region) would be chosen by all adults of that region to represent them at the Senate, the ruling body of the Republic.

The first decision of the first Senate was to outlaw all magic. Also called the First Law, it condemns anyone using magic to the death. The logic behind this decision was that magic sets people above others, that magic cheats people, and that such behavior was to be avoided.

The First Law is extremely popular in the Republic, as even though they have cast aside their ancient ways, the people of the land still descend from tribes that were very vary of magic. But naturally, a law like that was thought of as a provocation by the nation of warlocks to the north, Bael Turath.

From 4694 to 4853 Bael Turath and the Republic fought a number of wars. Mostly Bael Turath was the aggressor, but not every time. After a 150 years of wars, the warlocks had managed to capture the north-westernmost part of the Republic.

And the Republic seemed happy enough to just keep the rest of their land. While the situation was and still is tense along the border, and that there are frequent skirmishes, it seems they do not plan on taking the land back. In general, they had not expanded at all. At least until 5484, when they launched an attack across the sea and captured two significant areas of Pyrrak, one to the northwest of Drakolyz, one to the northeast. After about 10 years of war, a peace was reached, and the land now belonged to the Republic. All spellcasters promptly left or were executed.

Evercold

There is absolutely no reason to travel to Evercold. Unless you plan to wage war on the clans. But why would anyone want to do that? Normal people can't live off their lands, and each barbarian is easily worth 4 or 5 normal soldiers. Subduing them would require a huge army. Larger than many nations could comfortably muster.

Vice-roy Hyperton of Ortygal 

Far to the north-east of Gemnos lies Evercold, arguably the most inhospitable area you can set foot on in the mortal world. Deep fjords, jagged hills, an abundance of large, wild animals and a constant cold that will freeze the marrow of your bones. No, Evercold is definitely not for the faint of heart. And if that wasn't enough, it is inhabited by thousands of clans of aggressive raiders.

Deep from within their fjords, they launch their dragonships and send them out to raid and pillage. The Empire of Zun, the Empire of Ortygal, the Ebon Empire, Varnor. Few places are out of reach of these dragonships who almost supernaturally glide through the water at incredible speeds. Even the Quaran Empire has had their coasts assailed by these northerners. Only the dwarves of the Iron Kingdoms have managed to establish a lasting peace and some trade with them.

Evercold has no central leader, nor a government or any king. Each clan is ruled by a jarl or baron or king, each making his own decisions based on personal beliefs, superstition or the advice of whoever has his ear. Only thing in common all these barbarians have are three things. They love to fight, women are little more than slaves in their eyes and they all worship To, an ancient burtal no-nonesence version of Torax, and believe white dragons are his divine messengers and thus worthy of their worship.

The 100 Kingdoms

The 100 Kingdoms is insanity on the grandest scales. 100 nations locked in an endless cycle of war, betrayal and alliances that would even make most drow matron mothers think twice before they join the game. Waiting for one king to become strong enough to recreate the glories of the Arborean Empire.

Sage Willian Archibald Grookwald 

Founded in the year 4000, the Arborean Empire was a young aggressive empire comprised of many nations won by the sword over the previous 120 years. Not being able to match the might of Ortygal and not really interested in the goldness of Uruak, the Arborean Empire stopped their expansion at their borders. For years, they plotted and built up their armies, because in their mind, expansion was a  must. Then in 4670, they unleashed their armies on the elves of Quel'Terath.

At first, it looked as if the Arborean Empire, along with their many orc mercenaries, would manage what everyone at the time considered an impossibility: To enter the domain of the elves and destroy their forest cities.

But the elves were not about to capitulate so easily. Their arch-mages, called spell-weavers, found a way to even the odds. Using captured orcs, they created a new race, the half-orc, that could fight for them and even the odds against the overwhelming numbers of the Arboreans. The rest, as they say, is history. The elves won the war, and the Arborean Empire collapsed when the elven-half-orcen army marched into their capital and executed the imperial family.

That was the beginning of the 100 Kingdoms. Ever since, the 100 kingdoms have fought each other trying to get the upper hand, and every one of the 100 kings dream of returning to Phelgrane, the imperial capital sacked by the elves and reclaiming the throne and restoring the metropolis to it's former glory.

Having been locked in constant wars for almost 1000 years on and off, the 100 Kingdoms produce some of the finest soldiers in all of Gemnos. And if some day one king manages to unite them all, their army will be feared by everyone else. Everyone.

Session 41

Day 199 (1st cycle of autumn, 11th day)

After killing Agatha, the Sons, although badly wounded, began to explore her lair. They quickly found a bunch of secret doors she had used to maneuver around unseen. One of those doors let to an area of natural tunnels. The Sons then remembered how bad in shape they were, and decided to take a short break in order to regain their breath. Unfortunately for them, the minotaur wandered around and  their break was interrupted after 20 minutes, when it wandered past their camp. Before anyone else could react, Nevron cast suggestion and convinced it to leave and not come back for an hour. The spell succeeded and they got the time to finish their break. 

As soon as they were ready to go, they tracked down the psycho-cow and killed it. They then found Agathas spellbooks, some gems and a Faerie Dragon named Viola, which had been the prisoner of Agatha's. They liberated Viola, who was grateful (she confirmed Agatha had had meetings with the death knight) and promptly left to return to the mortal world of Gemnos.

Day 200 (1st cycle of autumn, 12th day)

After a good night's rest, they traveled back to the portal, and once they were through, back to Ironville.

The plan was to head to Starkhold and find Metrova, whom they had now realized was a noble down there.

Day 201 (1st cycle of autumn, 13th day)

They went to see Sophie Ran and were told that a rumors were coming in from the east, from Weeping Hills that a demonic figure was assembling an army of cyclops, ogres and orcs. She asked the Sons to head east and find out what was happening. The Sons insisted on heading to Starkhold, but then Sophie told them that finding Metrova might be a problem, as the last Metrova died more than 50 years ago. With that information in hand, the Sons decided to postpone Starkhold and head east to find out if what was happening. They got a boat and a captain to sail them down the river.

Day 214 (1st cycle of autumn, 26th day)

After sailing for 12 days, the Sons were almost upon Faytown. They were hailed by a young woman who turned out to be named Ruby. She warned them against continuing because Faytown had already been occupied. She led the Sons through the woods to a spot overlooking Faytown. There they could see that an army of cyclops, ogres and orcs had taken spot outside, that the town had already fallen and that at least half of the inhabitants were imprisoned in large areas outside town.

While testing several theories, the Sons accidentally realized that Ruby was a fiend. They confronted her, using magic to ascertain whether she was lying, but while she did dance some around the truth, she did seem honest when saying that she was on their side and had no intention on betraying them to Ter-Zoth.

Nevron cast an Arcane Eye spell to investigate, and found that most of the town was empty, except for a few places. A town square with the town leaders in cages, guarded by some ogres. An inn with a orc-leader and an orc shaman. A harbor with lots of orcs guarding some fearsome battleships and finally a town hall with an elf and two cyclops guards. 

The Sons figured the elf had to be a demon, perhaps Ter-Zoth, and decided to have some fun. They sent him a sending, to test him. His answer was that he was not Ter-Zoth but would still enjoy ripping them apart, something which he said while looking right at Nevron's invisible arcane eye before dispelling it.

The Sons then discussed whether they should attack now or wait. While debating, 3 cyclops arrived to kill or capture them, but Nevron managed to suggest to two of them to go find a unicorn, so the Sons could easily deal with the third. Immediately after the fight, the Sons all became invisible, courtesy of Nevron, then headed into town in order to find the elf and kill him.

Unfortunately for the Sons, the elf had been scrying them while they had the discussion, so just as they had entered the gates, they were jumped by a lot of orcs, ogres and cyclops. The Sons made a tactical withdrawal, and made a narrow escape. Or rather, Arath barely made it to the woods with dimension door and haste and has about 80 orcs trailing him, Nevron is running behind those orcs and the rest of the army invisible, while Urnyx is even further away on his own, being hunted by a flying orc.

The Empire of Ortygal

For almost 4500 years, the Saldanas have ruled Ortygal. They are not just the imperial family. They are living, breathing gods of Ortygal and worshipped and regarded as such. That means they can get away with just about anything without fearing losing the support of their subjects. Which makes them very dangerous. Extremely dangerous.

-King Anturak of Pyrrak 

When King Geoff Saldana I was crowned King of Ortygal in Keyport in 1368, little did anyone suspect how much the Saldanas would accomplish and how far they would take Ortygal.

In just 300 years, Ortygal had expanded south and east, becoming a large and powerful kingdom. After annexing several other small kingdoms and dominating the continent of Anglar from north to south, King Michael Saldana II was crowned Emperor Saldana of the Empire of Ortygal. But the expansion did not stop there.

Within another 400 years the Empire of Ortygal was encompassing what is today the Federation of the Inner Sea and most of the Empire of Pyrrak and it's merchant fleet dominated harbors all over Gemnos.

From around the year 2000-2500, Ortygal was the de facto power on Gemnos. No one could come close rivaling their economic or military power.

Then in 2745, explorer Jack Moulineux found his way to Torabor and Ortygal immediately launched a project of exploration, subjugation and colonization that stretched even it's considerable resources. Money was pouring into Ortygal, but not all were happy. And in the south, trouble was brewing.

In 2999, with a large part of Ortygal's armies waging war 3500 miles away, southern separatists lead the charge for the south-western part of Ortygal to leave the Empire and form a new nation, one which wasn't ruled by one man, one family. James Saldana III, arguably one of the weakest Saldanas to ever take the golden throne in Keyport, allowed them to leave without a fight, and the Federation of the Inner Sea was formed.

By 3115, most of Torabor was colonized under Ortygalian control, although Varnor had taken a good chunk down south. Just 16 years later, in 3131 came the second revolution. This time in the south-eastern part of the Empire of Ortygal. Tired of all the money staying in the north, the southerns rebelled. This time however, the Saldanas refused to stand by and watch their empire shrink again. 27 years of bloody civil war followed before  Ortygal lost the war and the Kingdom of Pyrrak was founded.

In 3686 the Kyzian Empire started to spread out from the desert and soon became neighbor with Ortygal on Torabor.

Meanwhile, in 3987, the Empire of Ortygal is once again embroiled in a war with the Kingdom of  Pyrrak. This time it about the north tip of Anglar, just south of Evercold. The race and war ends in a stall-mate, with the two nations dividing the area between them. But this was not by far the last time the two giants would fight over territory. At least 6 wars (4369, 4682, 4823, 4992, 5289 and 5545) have since been fought between the two, each war resulting in land changing hands and people changing nationality. Especially the baronies of Terram, Kortt and Zungal have been affected by these changes due to their location.

After some centuries of status quo, the decline of Ortygal continued again in 4292 when the Kyzian Empire began to be aggressive and take huge swats of land from Ortygal in northern Torabor. Seizing the opportunity with a weakened Ortygal, Varnor started attacking it's lands in southern Torabor. By 4486, the Kyzian Empire held more than 2/3's of the northern part of the continent, while Varnor held most of the south. Ortygal's holdings on Torabor had been diminished to less than 1/20 of their original size.

In 5123, the last of the great losses happened. The Ebon Empire was formed and The Empire of Ortygal lost a huge chunk of land in the north.

The Ebon Empire

The Ebon Empire? Yeah, I wouldn't go there even if you paid me ten thousand gold pieces. They have more rules than a man could learn in a lifetime. I guess that is what happens when you have an emperor who is immortal.

Tomaz Radiff, explorer extraordinaire of ruins and dungeons all over Gemnos 

Northern Ortygal, even though a part of the Empire of Ortygal, was still very much influenced by it's proximity to Quel'Terath and the Iron Kingdoms. Elves and dwarves were common in all bigger cities, and the two races dominated many aspects of society.

Over the 500 years following the appearance of the New Gods, Bane became fairly popular in northern Ortygal. As the Banites grew in power and controlled more and more villages and towns, the friction with the many elves and dwarves increased rapidly.

Then, in 5123, Xerachotol, self-proclaimed Son of Bane appeared. More than 20 feet tall and extremely powerful, Xerachotol appeared before Karim Darkheart, a lowly priest of Bane in a remote village in northern Ortygal. From there, things went quickly. In just a few short months, several villages, towns and a couple of cities left the Empire of Ortygal, killing or banishing those still loyal to the Empire of Ortygal. Together they formed the Black Federation. The following years, the Black Federation expanded south, swallowing up a good chunk of northern Ortygal.

By 5134, the Ebon Empire was formed, with Xerachotol the Son of Bane as emperor. All demi-humans were given the choice to leave or to subject to the new laws, effectively making them slaves. The borders to the Iron Kingdom and to Quel'Terath closed soon after, stopping trade and passage.

For the next 100 years, Ortygal and the Ebon Empire waged several smaller wars over dominion of the area. Both won some, but all in all, the Ebon Empire gained more than they lost.

Nowadays, even though Xerachotol still rules the Ebon Empire, there is and has been peace for a long time between the two Empires. There is a lot of trade between the Ebon Empire and both Ortygal, the Federation and the Quaran Empire

Instead the Ebon Empire is looking north towards Evercold and east towards the 100 kingdoms.

East of Ironville (map)

1 hex = 100 miles, red line = national borders

Session 40

Day 198 (1st cycle of autumn, 10th day)

On the next morning, the Sons bid farewell to Gandolfo the Magnificent and proceeded towards Agatha's hut. 

Late afternoon, they exited the fey forest and found themselves at the lake. They soon realized that this was the Dragon Lake near Lochhurst, or rather the equivalent. There was a much quicker way back to the portal.

As they pondered on how to cross the lake, they were attacked by two wyverns, which they dispatched without too much trouble.

Day 199 (1st cycle of autumn, 11th day)

At night, six werewolves surprised the Sons. While the fight was short, it was brutal. 

In the morning, Nevron realized that it is always a full moon in the Faerie, and that he better get the cursed removed, just in case the many bites he had sustained had infected him.

The Sons made a raft and sailed out on the lake. They had only been sailing for about 15 minutes, when another wyvern caught up with them. Nevron jumped in the water to hide from it, but the other two decided to stay on the raft. They both went in when the wyvern crash-landed on the wooden raft. While Aran was drowning and Nevron trying to save him, Urgyx managed to finish off the foul beast.

Towards evening, they got to the island.

They explored a bit, and found the hut. It turned out to be empty, but the doorframe was portal to another place. They ended up in some connected corridors filled with webbing, magical suggestions and fog they couldn't see through. There Agatha ambushed them. The fight was long and hard, and for a long time, it looked as if things were going to go against the Sons. Only through luck and tenacity did the Sons turn the tide when Nevron managed to pin her down via a wall of force, so that the two others could take her down. It was still a very close thing, but in the end, she died. As she did so, the magical fog and web disappeared. All they were left with was her parting words (when she thought she was winning) and the fact that Nevron seems to find the name Metrova familiar.

You Sons of the Phoenix are persistent. Although this is as far as you go. You will die in a few moments, and you will die knowing that you were too late. The Orb is now with my masters and they have all necessary information on our tests. Do not worry. The plague will not spread from Ironville, so only the children there will die. Once they are dead, just one more test remains, before the full force of the Dark Trio is unleashed on these realms. And while Metrova conducts his experiment, you will be watching from the Underworld.

History of Gemnos

As written by Antonii Kufku. All dates are approximations.

The Primal Era: 12.000-8.000 years before the Twins’ Arrival

-12.000 

At first, there was nothing but the Mists of Madness. Then came the Twins and created Gemnos. They pushed back the maddening mists and began creating and building a paradise, a place for us. But at first, the Mists were powerful. They warped every creature that the Twins created and placed on Gemnos.

The first of such creatures are today known as the aboleth. They still exist to this day, although they are fewer now and lurk in the darkest corners of the Underdark

It is unclear who or what the Aboleths ruled over back then, presumably it was whichever other creatures the Twins created that didn’t get warped. But we do know that the Aboleth ruled over a good chunk of Gemnos for about 2000 years. The Aboleth controlled a the area along the coastlines of Gemnos, from the area around the Federation of the Inner Sea, all the way down south, along the northern coast of Kounark and up along the eastern coastline of Torabor. 

-10.000 

Then from the Astral Sea surrounding Gemnos and Mists, ancient beings of immense power came and waged war on the Aboleth, driving them underground. Gemnos had a new ruling race, but they never had the time to settle in and built. They occupied aboleth strongholds and cities, but the Twins did not created Gemnos for them and had by now realized that Gemnos would only belong to their children if they helped things along. So they created monsters of destruction in order to deal with these ancient beings of power. The Tarrasque. The Kraken. The Hydra. All examples of the monsters that the Twins created to wage war.

The battle lasted for a thousand years, shaking Gemnos at its core. Lands were sunk, oceans rose, coastlines altered and even reality and the multiverse around Gemnos was warped and changed by this war. Heaven and Hell were created, along with the Elemental Chaos and the Pillars of Heaven.

-9.000 

After being beaten and expelled from Gemnos, the ancient beings split into several factions, and spread out over the new multiverse. Those that ended up in Hell became devils and demons, those that ended up in Heaven became angels, those that ended up in the Elemental Chaos became the Vaati, which later became the genie, and those that ended up in the Pillars of Heaven became Modrons.

With Gemnos secure, the Twins created the dragons and the couatls. The dragons to be their will and weapons, the couatls to be their messengers. And then they set the dragons upon the monsters they had created to get rid of the ancient beings. The Dragons, which were far more numerous than the couatls, were created down in the mountains of what is now Drakolyz, and spread out from there, although for unknown reasons, they mostly kept their lairs down south, near the southern mists. But they did go to war everywhere and won, destroying the mad creations of the Twins. 

The Lost Era: 8.000-4.000 years before the Twins’ Arrival 
-8.000

Giants are created in what is now Quel’Terath and the Iron Kingdoms. They were different from today, and only two races, regular giants and the fomorians. Soon the two radically different giants found themselves at odds with each other. At first, fomorians had the upper hand, pushing back their cousins. 

At the time, dinosaurs, big scaly, wingless dragons, roamed almost everywhere on Gemnos.

-7.500 

The first early and primitive versions of humans, dwarves, halflings and gnomes began to populate gemnos, although the dwarves, who were created in what is now the Iron Kingdoms, were quickly enslaved by the giants and the gnomes, which were created in some hills in what is now the Republic, were quickly enslaved by the dragons. Meanwhile, the early humans were created in what is now the Kingdom of Erathis and the halflings were created on the plains of what is now the Cursed Lands on Nimalar. Also around this time, another race was created, the gith. 

-7.000

The Empire of Vaati, which by now dominated the Elemental Chaos, spread to Gemnos, due to the assault of the Queen of Chaos and her demonic host. The war continued for a couple of hundred years on Gemnos, down in central and southern Torabor. Both hosts ended up leaving Gemnos to continue their fight elsewhere, although some believe they were forced away by the dragons. 

-6.500 

The first and only fomorian empire was founded and at it’s peak, it stretched from northern Ortygal and all the way down south to Varnor. 

-6.300 

Mind flayers in huge numbers came out of the mists in Nalimdor and spread out over most of Gemnos, covering a wide belt from west to east in central Gemnos. Just about everyone was enslaved, although a small part of the fomorian empire “survived” in what is now the Iron Kingdoms and Quel’Terath, which means the original dwarves weren’t enslaved either. 

-5.500 

Led by the gith, the humans and halflings rebelled. Helped by gridlocks, a new magical creature created for the purpose, and of course the dragons, the “good” races managed to topple the empire of the mindflayers and send them packing back into the Mists.

-5.300 

The Giants formed their own empire, which at it’s peak stretched from Quel’Terath and way down south. In the process, the giants destroyed what was left of the fomorian empire in and took overlordship of dwarves. The last fomorians fled to the Faerie. 

By now, most of the plains of Nimalar were populated by the tribal halflings who roamed the plains.

-4.500 

After years of friction, the dragons and the giants went to war. It was a brutal war, but even with their mighty shamans and the living weapons they created (behirs and rocs), the giants were no match to the fury of dragon armies. The giant empire was destroyed, their cities ruined, and most giants were killed or spread out in small enclaves. The dwarves were finally liberated and they made their home in the mountains that are now the Iron Kingdoms.

-4.400 

Around the same time, the elves were created in Quel'Terath

The Ancient Era: 4.000-0 years before the Twins’ Arrival 

-4.000

Almost 5000 years after they are first created, the dragons finally got around to form their empire. The empire covered all of Torabor, most of Kounark and southern Anglar. Their rule was more or less absolute. 

Also at the time, was the rise of the Yuan ti empires. One empire covers most of Nalimdor and the other is located in the southeastern corner of Nimalar. On Nalimdor, every human and gith was exterminated - more or less. A few gith made it out, and fled through an ancient Vaati portal, or so the story goes. 

-3.900 

By now, the elves of Quel’Terath had organized themselves and formed the Kingdom of Leaves, also aptly named the Empire of Elves.

-3.500 

The Kingdom of Leaves is shaken by civil war. Two brothers fight for control of the Kingdom and some are driven underground, later becoming what is now known as drow.

Meanwhile, the growing populations and the many wars had caused the dinosaurs to be extinct on both Torabor and Kounark. 

-3.000 

By now humans, halflings, goblinoids, gnomes and orcs are physically and mentally more or less as they are today. They also begin to appear in many corners of Gemnos, populating it.

-2.500 

After a revolution amongst their slaves, the Yuan-ti empire on Nalimdor fell. The one on Torabor soon followed and the snake-men reverted back to smaller scale dominions.

At this point, the dinosaurs were extinct on both Nimalar and Anglar as well.

-2.400 

The mightiest dragons of every color banded together in a desert in northern Torabor and created the dragonborn, a servitor race in their own image, or almost.

-2.200

The dwarves formed the Iron Kingdoms

-2.000 

The dragon empire crumbled under the weight of politics and deception

-1.500 

Down south in the western part of Kounark, the first human empire empire rose, built on the ruins of the dragon empire. Ruled by a master caste of warlocks, arcane tinkering was at a premium and many living weapons were created. Most notably the chimera, the gnoll, the ettin, the owlbear and the bulette. The warlocks were ambitions and stark raving mad, at least for the most part. They struck a deal with the Lords of Hell for even more power, and were transformed into tieflings. 

-1.000

The warlock empire imploded when a gigantic earthquake ripped it’s capital in pieces and plunged all of their most powerful and influential people into the sea.

Meanwhile on Nimalar, the humans had succeeded in nearly destroying all tribal halflings. Very few remained “free” and roaming, the rest assimilated into the culture and civilization of the humans.

-450 

The first half-elf was created.

0 

The Twins reveal themselves to man. For unknown reasons, it is called their arrival as well. At this point in time, Nalimdor was all but empty of civilizations, except for numerous small human flesh-eating tribes. On the other hand, Nimalar had already formed many kingdoms and it's population was growing exponentially. Most of Torabor was small villages and semi-nomadic tribes, while Kounark was fairly advanced also, except for the area covered by the warlock empire, as it had been left in ruins. Anglar, which by far had been ravaged by war most times, was just developing villages, except for the Iron Kingdoms and the Empire of Leaves, that is.

Session 39

Day 195 (1st cycle of autumn, 7th day)

The Sons left for Oakwood and the druid grove found mentioned in some texts. They arrived there a couple of hours later, and talked to a druid named Harold, who was somewhat hesitant in allowing them to pass through. But they managed to convince him that they could hold their own against monsters in the Feywild, even hags such as Agatha.

Once through the portal (which was a space between two menhirs, activated for a few seconds once a day by saying "Safe passage home" in elven), they ran into Zika, a dryad. After some back and forth, they agreed to plant some acorn in a circle in Oakwood for her, in exchange for information about someone who knew where to find Agatha. She did warn them against seeking out the hag, as she was "nasty business".

Once the deal concluded, they headed north and west along the river to find Barkskin. They were attacked by some animated trees and an owlbear, before they at evening found an abandoned crystal tower. Inside was spell-trapped, but Nevron managed to dispel quite a few, and they found some magical spells and potions.

Day 196 (1st cycle of autumn, 8th day)

The next day they continued, and after an episode with their makeshift raft that fell apart while traversing the river, they found Barkskin. Unsurprisingly, Barkskin turned out to be an old treant, and while he wanted nothing to do with their gold, he did want some help killing some phase spiders who had nested nearby in a valley he couldn't access due to his size. 

Once the spiders had been killed, the Sons were told how to find Agatha, and they continued north. 

Day 197 (1st cycle of autumn, 9th day)

As they awoke and the magical shelter faded, they were attacked by three trolls. They quickly dispatched them and moved on. Soon enough, they ran into a huge dinosaur and a big snake, but Nevron polymorphed it into a tortoise and they moved on, putting some distance between themselves and the fearsome monster.

At night, as they were about to stop for a break, they met with Gandolfo the Magnificent, a traveling gnome bard. Suspicious at first, the Sons eventually warmed a bit up to them, and they got talking. They learned about a magical fair nearby, that Agatha was a powerful spellcaster, that her hut was magical and much bigger inside than outside and that she had a minotaur pet guardian named Moo, who had a big axe.

Timeline of 7AN campaign (Sons of the Phoenix)

Gods and church branches - overview

Session 38

Day 185 (3rd cycle of summer, 34th day)

The Sons spend a couple of days researching Garos (one of which Nevron spent temporarily insane), but could find nothing about him. Apparently, Saint Michael's right hand was an angel named Ulmator and it had been so for at least 1000 years. After the research and some dancing around the pot, the Sons finally decided to try to break the crystal coffin, which was no longer protected against divine magic.

Arath started to hit it with his hammer, which he had infused with divine magic. Soon the crystal coffin cracked, and Garos emerged. He seemingly completely ignored the Sons, picked up an iron rod on the floor and infused it with magical runes only to drop it on the floor and vanish.

Day 186 (3rd cycle of summer, 35th day)

Nevron researches the rod and figures out that if they strike it on a hard surface and says his name, they either summon him or his consciousness. 

The Sons decide to take a trip back to the mine where they released the demon, to question the worshippers of Mask that were trying to keep the demon entrapped, maybe they know more.

During their research, they also learn that Natalia Blackhorn is the only mortal who knows of the reason why Ter-Zoth wanted Garos specifically.

Day 190 (1st cycle of autumn, 2nd day)

The Sons arrive at the mine and find it as they left it. They pick up the bodies and return home.

Day 194 (1st cycle of autumn, 6th day)

The Sons arrive back at Ironville, only to find the gates closed and black flags running the towers. There is a plague in town.

Talking to Morninglord Henry, they learn that only the kids are so far affected. It started 5 days ago.

The Sons track down patient zero, a boy named Jacob, the son of the miller. After some more investigating, they find out that he must have been affected by the plague at the South Marked, where he went to watch some street artists. There, an old woman gave away candy to all the kids, and apparently showed them a black box full of stars. Or something. 

The Sons deduce that the box must hold the curse/plague, which explains why it can not be cured. Destroying the box is the only way to save the children. Further research reveals that the old woman looks suspiciously like the figurine they found when they killed the Death Knight. Said figurine was placed in Oakwood, so they research famous hags or witches in Oakwood. Only the name Agatha turns up, but she does not live in Oakwood. Instead she lives in the Feywild connected to Oakwood. The Sons also find a story about a druid grove not far away, where the druids once helped some adventurers cross over. They decide to go there to find Agatha and the black box.

At some point during their research they are also reminded of the fact that Eletha Moonray, the spiritual leader of all elves live in Oakwood, that she doesn't like Xuk and Natalia Blackhorn and sits upon a crystal throne in a crystal tower.. Now, where did the crystal for the angel-trap come from again?

Session 37

Day 182 (3rd cycle of summer, 31st day)

After their weird experience with the time-space continuum, the Sons continued to explore the underground city. Using his newfound mystical abilities to communicate with nature, Urnyx viewed the city through the eyes of a bat, and found out that there was a large flying creature down here. The Sons assumed a dragon. Urnyx also saw a belltower and something that must have been the palace, once upon a time.

Moving through the city, the Sons ran into several roaming packs of undeads, but managed to avoid them every time. While crossing the bridge spanning a chasm dividing the city in two parts, the Sons got ambushed by a beholder. The Sons quickly found themselves under a magical barrage of death, disintegration and petrification rays. Nevron was caught in the anti-magic ray and since the beholder was flying, Urnyx and Arath had to jump up extremely high in order to just hit it once in a while. The battle was short and furious, but in the end, the Sons vanquished the foul beast, although it was very touch and go all along.

After the battle, the Sons decided they were in no shape to continue exploring a city filled with undead, and returned to the church to stay until the next day.

Day 183 (3rd cycle of summer, 32nd day)

After resting yet again, the Sons went back to the other part of the city, still wary of the supposed dragon. They explored the bell-tower and the "palace" but found nothing of interest. The Urnyx used his powers to commune with the land itself, and found that in the chasm, there was something otherworldly, a rift or a presence from another plane.

Down into the chasm they went, and found the lair of the beholder, cloaked in mists that reminded Nevron of reports he had read about the Mists of Madness surrounding Gemnos. 

Luckily, the mists here were not dangerous, and they could easily acquire the treasure that the Beholder had amassed, or at least some of it.

The Sons then flew back up to Ironville, where they identified their newfound loot and checked the crystal coffin, indeed, it had only 31 sigils now.

Session 36

Day 181 (3rd cycle of summer, 30th day)

The Sons decided to rest and recuperate at the church. 

While sleeping, Nevron and Urnyx were transported(?) back in time to the same day long ago, when the underground city below Ironville was still alive and populated. There they participated in a giant ritual that captured Garos the Eternal Champion, First Lieutenant of the Arch-angel Saint Michael (Leader of the Armies of Heaven) so that the city, lead by high priest Kyrosh of the Twins could strike a deal with none other than Ter-Zoth, the demon that the Sons had liberated some months earlier, to have the demons leave the city alone. 

Even though the two Sons sabotaged the ritual, so that the crystal would no longer be unbreakable, it still formed and trapped the angel. Ter-Zoth arrived, but didn't uphold his end of the bargain and instead flooded the underground city with bone demons. The Sons desperately tried to hold back the tide of fiends, but to no avail and were soon ripped to pieces, while Ter-Zoth teleported away with the coffin, after failing to bring it back to Hell through the gate he had opened. 

Weird thing was, that while Nevron and Urnyx were still themselves, both were followers of the Twins and everybody called them by their real name and seemed to know them. Apparently, they had even gotten the crystal that was grown around Garos for the high priest by going up to the surface and into Oakwood, which was, according to the people of the underground city, no mean feat.

Session 35

Day 181 (3rd cycle of summer, 30th day)

After a couple of days resting after their trip to the Underworld, the Sons head back down below Ironville in order to find Talladar. After acquiring the needed permits, they hire some "dwarves" to break down the wall.

Behind they find some ancient sewers and access to an ancient crypt, where they find a broken sarcophagus and a hole in the wall leading to a natural chimney that goes down. The Sarcophagus is trapped by magic, which makes no sense, how could someone had broken into it and not activated the magic? Also, there were no prints whatsoever. 

The Sons climb down and find an abandoned city? but otherwise in pristine condition. Nevron sends out his magic eye, and spots some undead, and also finds several landmarks, amongst others a church of the Twins. 

The Sons start to move through the city, encountering several undead, both ghosts, a banshee, some wights and a ton of ghouls.

They fight their way through the church and seek refuge there, hoping that the consecrated ground will keep out most if not all of the undead.

Session 34

Day 179 (3rd cycle of summer, 28th day)

For 2 days, the Sons fought their way through the Underworld. At every turn there were undeads and more undeads, and every time they encountered some, they attracted a ton more. The situation was looking gloom, as they were looking forward to at least another 8 days of constant assaults. It was also as if the undead could feel the living on this plane.

Late in the evening of the second day, a portal opened near where the Sons were about to make camp. Sophie had coerced Morninglord Henry to find them, and after spending a night and day in prayer and meditation, an angel had arrived to show him where the Sons were.